One Billion Gallons One Drop at a Time

New York City Council passed legislation Wednesday that aims to save the city one billion gallons of drinking water a year. Four bills slated to be implemented by summer 2012 will curb bottled water usage, reduce leaks, refine water efficiency standards, and ban some water-inefficient equipment.

The water efficiency legislation affects new construction and changes to existing buildings and includes reducing the allowed flow rate of plumbing fixtures like faucets, showerheads, and toilets and requiring alarms and sub-meters to detect leaks in some water equipment including roof tanks.

In a city that uses one billion gallons of water each day, or about 125 gallons per New Yorker, savings from these efficiency improvements add up fast.

“The bills we are passing today use a multi-prong approach to increase water efficiency standards in the City,” stated Council Member Erik Martin Dilan, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings, in a release. “They encourage the use of products that conserve water, require the installation of sub-meters and alarms to catch water leaks, and seek to increase the use of drinking fountains. These bills not only have the potential to protect the environment, they also have the potential of saving New Yorkers a substantial amount of money.”

These new regulations were drafted by the Green Codes Task Force, part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Urban Green Council which has been exploring ways to green the city’s construction codes.